Nutrient balance — Cropland potassium per unit area in Lesotho
Lesotho: Nutrient balance — Cropland potassium per unit area was 2.28 kg/ha in 2023. ▲ Rising
Nutrient balance — Cropland potassium per unit area in Lesotho, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in kg/ha.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 2.28 kg/ha for nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area in 2023.
That represents a change of down 46.3% on the previous year and down 50.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area in Lesotho peaked at 10.82 kg/ha in 2001 and was at its lowest, 1.76 kg/ha, in 1961.
Lesotho ranks 104th of 186 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Nutrient balance — Cropland potassium per unit area in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | kg/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.76 kg/ha | — |
| 1962 | 2.28 kg/ha | +29.2% |
| 1963 | 2.16 kg/ha | -5.0% |
| 1964 | 1.99 kg/ha | -8.1% |
| 1965 | 2.52 kg/ha | +26.6% |
| 1966 | 2.02 kg/ha | -19.8% |
| 1967 | 2.56 kg/ha | +27.0% |
| 1968 | 2.5 kg/ha | -2.3% |
| 1969 | 2.86 kg/ha | +14.2% |
| 1970 | 3.53 kg/ha | +23.5% |
| 1971 | 3.34 kg/ha | -5.6% |
| 1972 | 4.76 kg/ha | +42.6% |
| 1973 | 4.11 kg/ha | -13.6% |
| 1974 | 2.71 kg/ha | -34.0% |
| 1975 | 3.58 kg/ha | +32.2% |
| 1976 | 4.22 kg/ha | +17.8% |
| 1977 | 2.11 kg/ha | -50.0% |
| 1978 | 2.05 kg/ha | -3.0% |
| 1979 | 2.99 kg/ha | +46.0% |
| 1980 | 4.3 kg/ha | +43.8% |
| 1981 | 4.18 kg/ha | -2.8% |
| 1982 | 5.07 kg/ha | +21.3% |
| 1983 | 5.01 kg/ha | -1.2% |
| 1984 | 4.53 kg/ha | -9.5% |
| 1985 | 4.17 kg/ha | -8.1% |
| 1986 | 5.38 kg/ha | +29.1% |
| 1987 | 4.62 kg/ha | -14.1% |
| 1988 | 3.09 kg/ha | -33.2% |
| 1989 | 3.44 kg/ha | +11.3% |
| 1990 | 2.23 kg/ha | -35.2% |
| 1991 | 6.85 kg/ha | +207.8% |
| 1992 | 6.11 kg/ha | -10.8% |
| 1993 | 5.7 kg/ha | -6.7% |
| 1994 | 6.85 kg/ha | +20.1% |
| 1995 | 9.01 kg/ha | +31.6% |
| 1996 | 6.14 kg/ha | -31.9% |
| 1997 | 6.95 kg/ha | +13.2% |
| 1998 | 7.12 kg/ha | +2.5% |
| 1999 | 7.26 kg/ha | +1.9% |
| 2000 | 10.09 kg/ha | +39.0% |
| 2001 | 10.82 kg/ha | +7.2% |
| 2002 | 5.38 kg/ha | -50.3% |
| 2003 | 4.98 kg/ha | -7.4% |
| 2004 | 4.69 kg/ha | -5.7% |
| 2005 | 5.86 kg/ha | +24.8% |
| 2006 | 8.62 kg/ha | +47.1% |
| 2007 | 9.86 kg/ha | +14.3% |
| 2008 | 5.2 kg/ha | -47.2% |
| 2009 | 5.22 kg/ha | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 3.31 kg/ha | -36.5% |
| 2011 | 4.2 kg/ha | +26.9% |
| 2012 | 4.83 kg/ha | +15.1% |
| 2013 | 4.57 kg/ha | -5.5% |
| 2014 | 3.88 kg/ha | -15.0% |
| 2015 | 5.97 kg/ha | +53.8% |
| 2016 | 4.32 kg/ha | -27.7% |
| 2017 | 2.96 kg/ha | -31.5% |
| 2018 | 4.9 kg/ha | +65.6% |
| 2019 | 7.19 kg/ha | +46.6% |
| 2020 | 3.05 kg/ha | -57.5% |
| 2021 | 1.93 kg/ha | -37.0% |
| 2022 | 4.25 kg/ha | +120.8% |
| 2023 | 2.28 kg/ha | -46.3% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 2.28 kg/ha is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -3.81 kg/ha. (40 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 2.28 kg/ha is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -4.65 kg/ha. (43 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.3 kg/ha | 1.76 kg/ha | 2.86 kg/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 3.34 kg/ha | 2.05 kg/ha | 4.76 kg/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.38 kg/ha | 3.09 kg/ha | 5.38 kg/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.42 kg/ha | 2.23 kg/ha | 9.01 kg/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.07 kg/ha | 4.69 kg/ha | 10.82 kg/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.61 kg/ha | 2.96 kg/ha | 7.19 kg/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.88 kg/ha | 1.93 kg/ha | 4.25 kg/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More environment data for Lesotho
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.284 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.783 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.521 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -2.27 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual -0.4197 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area in Lesotho?
- Nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area in Lesotho was 2.28 kg/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 10.82 kg/ha in 2001.
- What is the lowest nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.76 kg/ha in 1961.
- How does Lesotho rank for nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area?
- Lesotho ranks 104th out of 186 countries with data for 2023.
- Is nutrient balance — cropland potassium per unit area rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 50.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Nutrient balance — Cropland potassium per unit area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Cropland Nutrient balance domain contains information on the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from mineral fertilizer, manure applied, atmospheric deposition, crop removal, and biological fixation over cropland and per unit area of cropland. The flows are aggregated to total inputs and total outputs, from which the overall nutrient balance and nutrient use efficiency on cropland are calculated. Statistics are disseminated in units of tonnes and in kg/ha, as appropriate. Nutrient use efficiency is expressed as a fraction (%).